CADAC Safari Chef Portable Camping Grill Review

A versatile camping grill with five interchangeable cooking surfaces.

What doesn't the CADAC Safari Chef do? This portable camping grill, isn't just a grill -- it's a barbecue, grill, skillet, stove, and it's even a wok. Yes, a wok. On a one-night campout, we grilled a tri tip, roasted peppers, boiled water for coffee and fried bacon, eggs, and blueberry pancakes. The five interchangeable cooking surfaces, folding legs and carrying bag combine to make the Safari Chef the most versatile and easy-packing portable camping grill system that About Camping has ever tested.​

An Expert Review

The Safari Chef portable camping grill saved the day on a recent camping trip with a few friends. We were celebrating the warm spring weather at a hot spring campground with a marinated tri-tip, a lot of good snacks and a cooler full of sparkling wine and beer.

Although I had packed the Safari Chef with the intention of barbecuing, one friend insisted on cooking over the campfire. After hours of cooking the tri-tip, we realized the coals weren't hot enough and we moved our tri-tip to the Safari Chef along with a few red and yellow peppers. The grill burned hot and we were feasting shortly after.

The grill is compact but offers a reasonable amount of cooking surface. If you are planning to cook for more than four people, you may need to grill or cook in increments.

The next morning after a soak in the hot spring, our camp chef was frying up bacon, eggs, and blueberry pancakes fro breakfast on the Safari Chefs reversible flat grill.

The Safari Chef is perfect for camping chefs that love to cook in the great outdoors.

Pros

The five interchangeable cooking surfaces are versatile for creative camping chefs with various cooking preferences.

The legs on the portable grill fold in, so that the entire cooking system, including the cooking surfaces, pack down nicely into a simple carrying bag.

The Safari Chef offers a lot of cooking options without a lot of bulky equipment.

Easy set-up: fold the legs out and screw on a propane cylinder. Done.

TheSafari chef is designed to let grease run off and to prevent flare-ups when using the mini fat-free BBQ and fat-free non-stick ribbed grill.

Cons

The portable grill stands on legs, so when using the stove it is exposed to wind, which means it takes longer to boil water than a conventional camping stove.

Do I really need all these cooking surfaces when camping? Me, no. Camping chefs, maybe.